Toddlers and Dancing
Toddlers love moving to music. By using their bodies, they can express emotion and explore various ways their bodies move. Below are some ideas to help you explore dance with your toddler.
Play music for your toddler
It doesn’t take much at all to get your toddler dancing. Just put on a catchy tune with a peppy rhythm and your wee one will start moving like crazy. They may not even realize that her legs are bouncing to the beat in her car seat as you drive along with the music going in the car. Even very young toddlers are aware of different rhythms and the feelings they elicit. You can see this in action if you put on some slow, classical music and ask your toddler to dance (she might slowly sway or spin) versus rocking out to something with a fast beat. A good place to start, then, is to make sure your child has access to many different types of music throughout the day. She will probably do a fair amount of dancing on her own.
For Parents With Two Left Feet
If you are an adult that enjoys music and dancing, it’s probably not too much of a stretch when it comes to planning and implementing dance activities with your toddler. But many adults may feel clumsy or uncomfortable with dancing and find it hard to get in touch with that part of themselves. If that’s you, then try not to focus on any formal type of dance but concentrate rather on the silly aspect of just moving to music. Try to remember what it was like when you were a child. Do you remember all the silly songs and movements that went with them?
Start out with common nursery rhymes that have simple dance-like movements with them. Don’t worry about doing it perfectly, of course. (That’s one of the many great things about toddlers. They never know just how bad a singer or dancer you really are.)
Here are some of our favorite songs to dance to:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Old McDonald had a Farm
The Wheels on the Bus
If You’re Happy and You Know it
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Have fun everyone!